Can you lose thickness without going Nw6? -UPDATED WITH PICS

[MontgomeryMan]

I ask this because in the last month or two it seems i've lost like 20-30% density across my entire scalp, especially in this little segment right behind the center of my hairline.

Background: 23 year old male with less than a cm of recession on either temple i've had for about three years. Never worried about that as it fit the classic definition of a matured hairline. Father was a NW2 in his mid 20s, Norwood 2.5 by 40, and at 55 is around an NW3. Same with both grandfathers. No NW6s in my family tree as far as I can tell.

In fact, up until a month or two, I had pretty much the exact same amount of density that I had as a teenager. Barbers always would comment on it.


BUT... freakishly fast i've lost density. The weird thing is, is that I haven't even noticed any additional shedding! If anything, i'm losing fewer hairs in the shower than I used to.

When it's dry, you can't see any scalp, but I can still tell. When I just get out of the shower, I can see a few lines of scalp sort of, more if I had just gotten the grease out of my hair.

If I comb it back when it's wet, like slick it back, you can't really see it. But After shampooing and running under the faucet with hot water, when I spike it up drenched I can see a bunch of scalp right in the front behind the center of my hairline! More when I have no hair grease, less when it's been a day or two.


I'd say it looks like THIS:

So how badly is that guy balding? Because that's a dead ringer for my scalp after a hot steaming shower if I spike my hair up?


Am I doomed to go NW6?? How long do i have until it completely thins out? Is it possible that I could just be thinning some from my teenage density but not completely thin out?

 

[Naltima]

Re: Can you lose thickness without going Nw6?

If you lost 20-30% of your density over the past 1 or 2 months like you claim then maybe there is something else going on besides male pattern baldness. Even for very aggressive hairloss that doesn't seem normal. People tend to exaggerate with these type of things, so posting pics would help a lot. You don't have to post a picture with your face in it, take a picture of your hair or blur your face out.

Also the image your posted doesn't show up, it says account suspended or something.

 

[MontgomeryMan]

Re: Can you lose thickness without going Nw6?

Can't post a pic of my own yet but I can assure you it's VERY much close to that pic I posted in the OP, which I fixed.

I don't know the percentages to be honest. But my hair is thinning than it was a month ago. There aren't any diffuse thinners in my family so it's really weird.

Used to be able to just drench my hair, spike it and STILL not see any scalp. That was what my hair looked like as a teenager and how it looked like until a month or two ago. Now it's like the OP.


Question is, can I just lose SOME like I did and not have it get much worse? Is it possible to lose your "teenage thickness" like most guys lose their "teenage hairline" but still not go bald?? Or am I doomed now.

 

[Naltima]

Re: Can you lose thickness without going Nw6?

The guy in that pic doesn't look like he has any type of hairloss besides maybe very slight temple recession. Seeing scalp is quite normal when your hair is wet and spiked up, I have a friend who will never ever suffer from hairloss but his scalp still shows when he spikes up his hair.

Having said that, it's hard to tell. From what you're describing I think you should keep a close eye on it for the next 6 months to a year, if it gets worse consider treatments. Most importantly you need to take pictures of your hair at least once a month to have an accurate grasp on the situation. If you don't want to you don't have to post the pictures here, but you need to have them as a point of reference for yourself. The last thing you want to do is to get on a life-long drug like Propecia with questionable long term sideffects when you don't need to.

It's really hard to suggest anything without seeing some pictures. Some people come in here writing up a story that makes it sound like they're about to become an NW7 in the next 3 months, but when they end up posting pictures it turns out that they have hair thicker than Elvis.

 

[Hellboy666]

Re: Can you lose thickness without going Nw6?

The degree of baldness is unique to each person, you can get a Norwood 6, despite not having anyone in your family. You inherit the gene, not the degree. My matern grandfather is NW6 with part imune on top, my uncles one is nw2 and other nw3.

 

[MontgomeryMan]

Re: Can you lose thickness without going Nw6?

Okay, here we go.


The first three pics are all different angles, 10 seconds after I ran my hair through warm water under the faucet and spiked it up, so it's plenty drenched. Under bright light as I could manage for the photo.

This one looks the worst :

This one I tried to take from above but the lighting kind of messed it up. Still spiked up:

And here's one where I took a comb and combed my hair back still wet:

So what do you think?? I can post some pics of it dry later but I'm not sure how much that will help. Just concerned because two months ago I couldn't see ANY scalp no matter how much I drenched it.

 

[Hellboy666]

Re: Can you lose thickness without going Nw6?

you have tendency to NW3A

 

[MontgomeryMan]

Re: Can you lose thickness without going Nw6?

you have tendency to NW3A

Uggh, I knew it. How long do I have left?


Now you guys see why I used that first pic in the first post... looks very similar.

 

[jd_uk]

Ignore that comments about nw3a...nobody can tell you based on pictures alone ....i wish i had your thick hair.

Go see a dermatologist if you are concerned and they will tell you for definite one way or the other if there is thinning.

 

[MontgomeryMan]

Ignore that comments about nw3a...nobody can tell you based on pictures alone ....i wish i had your thick hair.

Go see a dermatologist if you are concerned and they will tell you for definite one way or the other if there is thinning.

I don't need a derm to tell me if it's thinned. I know it's thinned because even drenched two months ago everything looked perfectly thick everywhere, the same thickness I had as a teenager.

My original question like the subject line states is, can you thin a little when your hairline matures but not completely thin out? I mean just like most men who get a mature hairline don't bald, most men who lose their teenage thickness don't go NW6 right? 23 years old.

I think I have the same problem robert pattinson does:

^^^ That's him with wet hair too. Though mine isn't as revealing as that when it's combed or just sitting.

 

[Hellboy666]

to know how far will be bald, just look at the areas that are sparse

 

[dinosaur_sr]

I've seen a thin spot like that in quite a few guys who aren't balding, something like this

not sure why or how that develops. Think we can safely say he isn't balding.

I'd still go see a derm or doctor as they can give your a far better idea than we can whether you're balding. Your hair still looks great for now, and it's unlikely it'll go anywhere fast before you see your doctor, if it is male pattern baldness. Try not to worry about things like how it looks day to day, or how much scalp shows when it's wet, they're very subjective.